I just read your column, "Aisle Watch," in the Feb. 5 issue. In it you said, "... [Wal-Mart Stores'] goal to achieve sales of $100 billion for the fiscal year ended last week evidently won't be realized."
the largest retailer was about $25 billion to $30 billion at the time. Sam may have passed away, but the goal he set for Wal-Mart should be reached comfortably three years in advance, at the June 1997 annual meeting.
ROBERT KAHN
editor and publisher Retailing Today Lafayette, Calif.
Editor's note: The writer is correct that the $100 billion sales mark wasn't a precisely stated goal at Wal-Mart. However, in February 1995, Lee Scott, Wal-Mart's executive vice president of logistics, told a trade-show audience that Wal-Mart would "bump" the $100 billion mark by year's end. By the time of Wal-Mart's annual meeting in June, Wal-Mart President David Glass forecast sales of "$90-some billion this year and $100 billion soon." Wal-Mart is expected to issue an earnings statement this week.
